Page 5 of Ravaged By the Dark

What the fuck did they want?

After what seemed like an eternity, they rounded the corner and came into the study. He held up his finger, pausing them in their tracks. He made a show of flicking to the next page on his tablet.

“Hold on a moment, let me finish this chapter. I’m almost done.” He fucking loved psychological warfare, and the stunned look on their faces had him laughing inside. He calmly lowered the book and smiled at his not-so-friendly guests.

“Well, gentlemen, what can I do for you this evening?” They looked at one another as if unsure about his nonchalant demeanor. “Well?” Trevor prompted. “I don’t have all night.”

“Our boss asked you to defend someone, and you turned him down.”

“And?”

“You’re going to change your mind,” the man in the middle said. He seemed to be the ring leader of the four, but they were all poorly trained and overtly nervous.

Why send boys to do a man’s job?

“As I explained to your boss, I cannot defend who he wants me to defend, as I’m already under contract to defend someone else that puts me in direct violation of conflict of interest. Even if I were to dismiss my other client, the courts would see an issue with me defending who your boss wants me to defend. Therefore, I cannot change my mind. Now, if that is all, you can see yourselves out.” He flicked his hand toward the door as if to shoo them out.

The man in the front stepped forward, a rookie move that blocked the view of two of the other potential shooters. “You will change your mind!”

“I already told you I cannot.”

The man raised his gun, and for all his bravado, the barrel slightly shook. “My boss was clear, you change your mind, or you die.”

Trevor sighed. It was evident, his attempt at diplomacy was falling on deaf ears.

“Well, in that case….” Trevor moved fast, the bullet dropping the leader before he even registered that Trevor had moved.

He’d always been the best shot, a true natural marksman, proudly earning the nickname Crosshairs. Once you were in his sights, you were already dead. The next two bullets found their marks just as swiftly, but he had to roll sideways out of the comfortable recliner to miss being shot by the fourth man.

He scooted behind the large chair and laid flat on the ground as bullets rained down on him. He should have just gone with Arek, for fuck’s sake. Bullets slammed into the walls, furniture, and antiques all around the room as the fucker shot like he was one handing it and jerking off with the other. Shards of glass from his expensive vases and decorative mirrors shattered as they fell.

Son of a bitch! Those pieces were worth a small fortune.

Trevor peeked around the far side of his cover and spotted the reflection of the remaining man in the shockingly undamaged window. The guy was edging his way closer to where he was hiding. He rolled onto his back and stared at the reflection upside down. When the man was close enough, he pushed off the recliner with his feet and slid backward across the tile. The bullet found its mark as the guy looked his way—a perfect bullseye between the eyes. He watched in horror as the man fell face-first into his favorite chair, spraying blood all over it.

“Fuck!”

Jumping up, he shot the bastard until his magazine ran dry. He grabbed his surprisingly undisturbed cell off the reading table. Arek was never going to let him live this down.

For the first time since he’d purchased his sexy little Princess, he wished he didn’t own such an easy-to-spot car. He was parked as far as he could get in the darkest corner of the club’s large back parking lot, but his eyes were glued on the door the staff used. So far, he’d seen two bouncers come out for a break and one lucky guy get a blowjob—busy night.

The door opened, and he held his breath. Sure enough, this time, Bambi emerged. She looked so small and…normal. She was still stunning. His cock twitched as she turned and walked in the other direction. Tight black jeans hugged her ass like a glove. Her long black hair was tied up in a ponytail, and she swung a backpack onto her bomber-jacket-clad shoulder. He tapped the steering wheel, trying to decide his next move, when she picked up her pace into a jog and disappeared out of sight.

Making a quick decision, he started the car and pulled to the end of the parking lot, craning his neck to try and see Bambi. She was yelling and waving her arm at the bus about to pull away from the stop. She slammed her hand on the closed door, and he watched her slip inside. The bright fluorescent interior lights illuminated her before disappearing as she sat down. Pulling out onto the street he stalked the bus at a safe distance, but the part of town they were heading toward was going to make it hard for him to blend in.

Every time the bus pulled over, he watched for his little deer, but she took the bus to the end of the line and slipped out to get on another bus that was already waiting. Deeper, the bus traveled into territory where he stalked his most terrifying prey. Drug dealers, pimps, and murderers lurked on every corner. His hands itched, and he rubbed them on his pants to get rid of the all too familiar feeling. Cracking his neck, he took a deep breath and focused on his task. He already killed three tonight, and he didn’t need another fix so soon.

After what seemed like an eternity, Bambi jumped from the bus, pulled up the hood on her hoodie, and walked down the street. He would’ve said it seemed like she was cold if it wasn’t eighty degrees, but he knew better. She was used to blending in and not being noticed. He didn’t like the way that knowledge sat like a pile of rocks in his stomach. Arek hated the idea of her walking this late at night all alone. It wasn’t safe for anyone. But a woman on her own—he knew firsthand what sort of sickos crawled out of their holes when the sun went down in this area. Bambi turned off the main road, and he slowed, killing his lights as he turned the corner and pulled over.

As luck would have it, he didn’t have to continue any further. He could see her push through a metal gate to a postage stamp front yard before jogging up steps to a home with lights shining from inside. Who was home? Did she have a family? Did she have a boyfriend? Oh hell, was she married? If she was, he might have to kill the fucker. This girl didn’t know it yet, but she was meant to be his, and he didn’t like to share.

Bambi disappeared inside the house, and he pulled the car away from the curb and drove on past, taking note of the house number.

His phone started ringing, and he answered it without looking to see who it was. “What’s up?”

“I need you to come home. We have a situation.”

Arek turned the car around at the end of the court. “What kind of a situation?”